15

Krystal woke up very early the next day. Even though she woke up with a headache due to not having enough sleep. Andrew was still asleep when she woke up.

She got downstairs and just had a toast that she made for herself. She was glad that she didn't run into Rita at any point. She didn't want to deal with her at all today.

She got to the office as early as she could. She had so many things she had to do and she knew that an early start was what could make all of it possible for the day.

Andrew woke up some minutes after Krystal had left for work. He had overslept and wondered why his alarm didn't even ring out. He had missed his morning jog also and was going to be late for work if he spent an extra minute in bed.

He jumped out of bed, took a quick shower and put on something for work. He walked down the stairs and realized his mum and sister were at the dinning already eating breakfast.

"Morning mum," he said kissing her on the cheek.

"Morning bro," Rita said, putting a spread on the bread she was about to eat.

"I need to get going for work now," Andrew said and he picked up his bag about to leave.

"You should eat," his mum suggested.

Andrew checked his watch for what the time was.

"I am going to be late. Bye mum, call me if you need anything."

"Wait, can you drop me at the spa. I have an appointment," Rita said, standing from where she was sitting and picking up her handbag by the side.

"You can take the other car out yourself."

"I want to go with you, really don't feel like driving today."

"I am going to be late."

"It's on your way. Don't worry, you won't be late."

Rita and Andrew walked out of the house and entered the car.

The driver opened the door for the two of them to go in and he then got in the car and began to drive.

The drive was at first silent, until Rita decided to speak.

"What's Krystal's deal. I feel the girl is hiding something."

Andrew turned to look at her.

He chuckled

"You do not even know her. Give her time, she is an amazing person."

"I mean, one minute she wants to marry someone, the next, she wants someone else. I read about her and that other guy."

"Do you know about him?"

"You mean Collins?"

"Yea, that's his name."

"She doesn't want him. I doubt she ever even really likes him," Andrew said.

"Just don't overthink things with Krystal. She is a lovely person. Just try to know her."

"Hopefully you get to until you travel again," he added.

"I think I will be around longer than expected."

Andrew turned to look at Rita.

"You're staying?"

"Yes. I have been thinking about it a lot and I think I need stability too, just like mum said."

"That's great. At least now mum wouldn't be up all on me to stay over and come. She would be with you."

They both chuckled.

"I have missed you two a lot."

Some minutes later, they reached the spa Rita was going to.

"Bye, see you later," Rita said, getting down from the car.

"Bye."

Some minutes after, Andrew got to the company. It was his first day at the company as the C.E.O.

This was what his dad had trained him for all his life and what he had looked forward to ever since he was a little boy and all of a sudden he felt nervous, several thoughts creeping into his mind.

"What if he isn't as good as everyone thinks. What if he makes mistakes?" He tried to not think of the negatives too much and only focus on the positives.

He removed all the thoughts from his head and focused on other things. He walked into the office and everyone greeted as he walked past into his new office. He knew it was coming with a lot of new responsibilities but he was ready to deal with them.

   Krystal got into the conference room where she had summoned all the people she had picked to be a part of her team, for the new Flavour of chocolate they were going to create.

She walked into the conference room, standing in front to address her team. She dropped the documents she was going to use, passing it to each member on the team.

She looked up from the table and the first person she sighted was Collins.

"I don't remember putting you on the team," she said.

"Well, I guess you're not the only one making decisions around here."

"I don't want you to be a part of this and it's not like you seemed interested before in it."

"Well, the boss chose me to be a part of it. He feels my experience might be something you need on the team so. I guess we can't go against him, or can we?"

Krystal furrowed her eyes at him. She knew she couldn't do anything but to accept that he was going to be a part of the project.

"Let's get started then. Time waits for no one," Collins said.

"Thank you everyone for being here. I picked everyone because I know how dedicated you all are to this company and I know we are going to do great things together."

"First, we need an investor. Someone that would be open to trying new things, someone that isn't afraid to take a risk on something new. So, I need each and every person to start reaching out to potential investors and give me reports on anything."

"I would also be open to contributions and suggestions from everyone."

Krystal addressed the team for a few more minutes while people spoke on things that could help and all.

"Any questions?" She asked.

"If none, thank you all so much. I will be expecting reports from all of you," she said.

Everyone left the room and then it was just Krystal and Collins left. He stood from where he was sitting and walked closer to where she was standing.

They were only about a inch apart now. She could smell the strong scent of the familiar cologne. She loved how he smelt. That was one thing that had attracted her to him.

"What is it?" She asked under her breath.

"That fire in your eyes when you were speaking, I love it. The control in your voice, it was really sexy," he said, biting his lower lip in the most attractive way.

Krystal's heart raced. She didn't realize how much effect he still had on her. What she didn't know was that it had all just been masked by her revenge against him but deep down, there was still a little fire that could be ignited at any moment.

He caressed her arms, tracing his fingers on it.

"You know how much a woman in control turns me on," he said.

Krystal’s mind went back to the first time she had met him.

She had decided to work after high school in dad’s company, the summer before college. Andrew was a second year college students and was interning in the company.

Krystal had gone to the coffee machine, trying to get coffee. The machine wouldn’t work and Krystal was trying to figure out what it was.

“Having some trouble?” She turned to look at the person who had just spoken and it was Collins. The most handsome 6ft man she had ever seen. Wore a blue round necked top and a trouser.

He had his hands in his pockets and for the first minutes, words failed Krystal had she didn’t know what to say.

“Yes, I am,” she finally said.

“Let me take a look.”

Collins walked towards the machine and hit it a bit at the side.

“You can try it now.”

Krystal went by the coffee machine again and this time it worked.

“Thank you,” Krystal said with a smile.

“I haven’t seen you around here before,” Krystal said. It was her first time working in her dad’s company but she came around a lot.

“I just started work a couple weeks back. I am Collins.”

“Krystal,” she said with a smile.

When Collins was about to say something else, krystal sighted her dad.

“That’s my dad, I need to go,” she said. “It was nice meeting you and thank you again.”

Collins knew from that moment that he had to get her to be his no matter what. His ambition started from that very moment.

Krystal couldn't say a thing. It felt like her words got stuck in her throat.

She was beginning to sweat even though the air conditioning was on.

Collins moved even closer and was about to put his lips on her when she pushed him away.

"I am married, please stop!" Collins laughed.

"We both know he doesn't like you," he said.

Krystal didn't understand what he was talking about and why he would say such a thing.

"What are you even saying?" She asked, curious about why he would make such assumptions.

"He only married you to get back at me," he added.

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

"Ask him, he would tell you."

Krystal knew they both didn't like one another but she had only just assumed the reason and never truly knew what it was.

"You don’t have to be such a jack cause I didn’t marry you,”

“You think that’s what this is about,” Collins said, laughing.

"You should go," she added.

“I am,” Collins said and she couldn’t stop thinking about all he had just said. What was he talking about? She thought.

It seemed deeper than she would have thought and she wasn’t sure if asking Andrew was the right thing to do.

She went back to her office to finish up on the proposals for the chocolate. She had so much work to finish and she had to stay an extra time in the office.

Krystal was feeling sleepy already and then decided to leave.

She picked up her bags and then walked out of the office.

She got home quiet tired but when she got in, she realized dinner was set and they were all sitting at the table already.

Andrew stood from where he was sitting and walked up to her.

“Welcome love,” he said.

“I called you couple of times, I was worried that you didn’t come home sooner,” he added.

Krystal checked her phone and saw the missed calls. She remembered that she had left the phone on silent to avoid being disturbed.

“It was on silent. Had a lot of work to do.”

He touched her arm and moved closer to her. Before she knew what was going on, she felt his warm lips on her forehead.

“You should take a shower and join us for dinner,” he said.

“Yes.”

Krystal walked upstairs and wondered what was going on with Andrew. He was acting strange.

She went into the room, showered and decided to join for dinner. They had already started eating when she got down.

“Mum, so when are you leaving?” Andrew asked.

“Are you tired of me already?” His mum asked.

“Or is there someone else who doesn’t want us here?” Rita said, turning to look at Krystal.

“Rita!” Andrew called.

“No mum, I am not. Just asking,” he replied.

“The girls and I have a trip next tomorrow to Paris but I am not sure I will be going.”

“Mum, you should go. I can pay for the flight, anything you need. You have always wanted to go to Paris and it’s with your girls, you should,” Andrew said with a smile.

“Was considering it, just wasn’t sure yet.”

“You should mum. I am sure you would love it. You haven’t gone out since dad,” Rita said.

“I don’t know,” their mum said.

“Mum, you should.”

“I mean, I haven’t even spent enough days with you and my sweet Krystal and Rita just got back too.”

“Mum, we are adults now. We can take care of ourselves. We just need you to live a little too, you deserve it,” Andrew said.

“I guess you’re right.”

After dinner, Andrew and Krystal went back to the room.

“Why were you acting all weird when I came back today?” Krystal asked.

“Rita is too suspicious and I don’t want to give her things to talk about.”

“You didn’t like it?” He asked, staring at her.

“I didn’t say that,” she answered.

He walked closer to where she was standing.

“You didn’t say you liked it either.”